


hermann/newt tumblr prompt fills

by seeingrightly



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 06:35:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17054993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: prompt: one character adjusting the other's jewelry/neck tie/ etc.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i'm moving all my tumblr prompt fills over here so i never lose anything. these were all too short to post on here alone.

hermann seems to be afraid to touch newt now.

newt’s not really sure what it is - afraid that he’s real, really here and free, or maybe afraid that newt’s fragile now, unstable, that anything might set him off or upset him or unbalance him. not that that’s exactly wrong? but. virtually anything hermann might do is pretty much the only - if admittedly long and ambiguous - item on the list of what’s safe now, what feels safe and good for newt.

hermann keeps doing things like putting his hand out as they walk but then letting it hover an agonizing couple of inches away from newt’s back. newt keeps noticing his hands twitching on the table between them, stopping himself from reaching out. newt can feel hermann buzzing with the need to touch and holding it in, and newt’s buzzing right back.

thing is, though, there’s a part of newt that thinks he might be wrong? and newt’s not particularly inclined to think he might be wrong; he’s not particularly inclined to being wrong. but that’s the thing about having an alien hivemind in your brain as a result of your own experiment. you were wrong, once, devastatingly so, so who’s to say you won’t be wrong again? the alien hivemind sure liked to remind you of that.

so, you know, newt knows how accurate his read on hermann generally is, but he also knows pretty much nothing for sure these days.

he is certain that he wants to touch hermann and he wants to be touched back, and newt’s never, ever been one not to follow through on that kind of thing, has he.

he starts small, at least. small for him, at the very least.

they’re in hermann’s lab and hermann’s walking him through the schematics of the kaiju blood rocket fuel he developed, now that newt’s here and able to listen. it’s not like newt really needs it explained to him, seeing as it all came from the part of hermann’s brain that came from newt’s brain, but whatever. hermann’s excited, hands flying, hair curling away from his forehead in a mess, leaning closer as he talks even faster. 

newt really wants to grab him, grab all of him, do something he won’t be able to come back from, but believe it or not he has some level of self-control. always has when it came to hermann, at least. unclear how much of that was fear-driven. maybe mostly fear-driven. anyway. he doesn’t do the thing he wants to do the most; he does the smaller thing.

he reaches out and fixes hermann’s collar, which is sticking up under one ear in a way that’s reminding newt terribly of, like, a vampire cape or something. which is not a particularly gottliebian vibe, is it, no, so he fixes it for that reason, and also because it gets his hand close to hermann’s neck, maybe.

hermann’s voice slows to a stop. he frowns, but gently, not angrily. 

“tell me about the thrusters, dude,” newt says, and hermann shakes himself and continues.

it’s not like they didn’t touch each other before. newt was always grabbing hermann and pulling him along; hermann was always shoving newt out of the way or out of danger. it wasn’t even always angry, either. they leaned on one another. they did. newt’s gonna get them back there even if nothing else comes of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: sharing a dessert

“no thank you,” hermann tells the waiter, handing him the dessert menu.

newt glares at him, but there’s no heat behind it, and he knows he’s not doing a good job of keeping the smile off his face either.

“next time i’m gonna order something you don’t like,” newt says.

“you say that every time,” hermann replies easily, reaching out to grab newt’s hand and rub a thumb across his knuckles.

“i mean it every time,” newt replies honestly. “and then i can’t do it.”

hermann brings newt’s knuckles to his mouth and kisses them, though newt thinks it’s a ploy to hide his smile. it doesn’t especially work.

“thank you for humoring this habit of mine, darling,” he says.

“aw,” newt says. “neither of us would be here if we weren’t willing to humor a whole hell of a lot of ‘habits.’”

hermann frowns.

“i admit you and i have our share of… peculiarities but i fail to see how this compares,” he says. “it’s perfectly normal to want to share a dessert. many couples do it.”

“honey, if you want to share dessert whenever we go out to dinner, you could just say so,” newt says, torn between amused and frustrated. “you turning it into a whole ploy where you don’t order anything and then steal a few bites from mine is what turns it into a peculiarity. one that i am fond of, to be clear, but you gotta admit it is not the ‘normal’ option.”

the waiter returns and places the slice of cake on the table between them. two forks. they do come here frequently, don’t they. newt notices hermann noticing it.

hermann huffs out a sigh and squeezes newt’s fingers. newt forks a bite of cake with his left hand, which almost if not quite as steady as his right.

“yes, alright,” hermann says, amused. “i suppose it was foolish to expect us to start being conventional now, after all this time.”

“screw convention,” newt says with his mouth full. “man, this is really good.”

the slice of cake is facing newt, and he can see hermann contemplate rotating the plate before he simply sticks the fork into the edge closest to him. he chews slowly and swallows before speaking.

“very good,” he says. “maybe i’ll order my own slice next time.”

“no you won’t,” newt replies.

“i won’t,” he agrees.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: slow dancing

“you know what i always wanted to do?” newton asks.

he’s leaning against one of the many messy desks in hermann’s office, not quite sitting on it. hermann’s not certain but he thinks it’s the desk that is home to the picture of the two of them taken just after the first war.

“what?” hermann asks.

there’s an endless list of answers to the question. so many opportunities stolen. it’s difficult not to be melancholy all of the time, though surely less difficult for him than newton, and so he tries to stave off the mood, as best he can, as frequently as he can.

he walks over to newton and reaches out. newton stands and, startling hermann a little, steps into him, wrapping his arms around hermann’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“what?” hermann prompts again, running a hand up the length of his back, settling it in his hair.

“it’s silly,” newton says, “but we always had music playing in the lab, so…”

he shifts his hands on hermann’s back so that he’s not hugging him so much as holding him, straightens up and shifts his feet apart a little. hermann can’t tell if it’s conscious or not.

“ah,” he says quietly.

it’s still startling, this revelation that his feelings had been reciprocated so long ago, that newton had them sooner. that newton spent time imagining being together, as they worked on their separate sides of the lab. that he pictured them slow dancing amid the entrails and chalk dust.

hermann leans to the side to rest his cane against the nearest desk. he places one arm around newton’s shoulders and with the other grips his upper arm, and newton shifts to take some of his weight and tightens his own grip, frowning slightly like he’s not sure what’s happening. there isn’t much floor space in the office, but they won’t be going very far anyway.

“put on some music, then,” hermann says.

newton smiles, soft and small, disbelieving. hermann understands that, but he’s working for the day that newton smiles and isn’t surprised by it anymore. today, it’s dancing. tomorrow, undoubtedly something more ridiculous that hermann will do without pause. 

they will reach the point where they are no longer surprised to be here and together; hermann is going to make sure of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: reacting to the other one crying about something

newt wakes up in the dark and isn’t sure where he is for a long moment. the bed’s uncomfortable and definitely not his, and the unearthly glow from alice’s tank is missing, and also he hasn’t slept in a bed for a long time. he’s been strapped to that chair. additionally, there’s a snuffling noise somewhere in the darkness that means he is not alone.

“oh,” he says, out loud but quietly, turning toward the noise, which of course abruptly stops.

“hermann,” he says muzzily, still not fully awake, “buddy, come here.”

he flails out a hand until it connects with hermann’s arm. hermann jumps and curls away until newt grabs a fistful of pajama shirt and tugs.

“honestly, newton, go back to sleep,” hermann says, and, yep, definitely crying in the dark next to a fast asleep newt like a weirdo, bless.

“no,” newt says, but he gives up on dragging hermann closer and instead grabs for the tissue box, maybe knocking over a couple of things in the process, whatever, it’s dark, he’ll fix it in the morning so no one trips and dies, sorry.

he plops the tissue box down onto the bed between them and graciously leaves the lights off and curls and arm under his head, awake now. hermann takes a tissue and blows his nose reluctantly. newt can’t see him but he just knows it’s reluctant. he can tell.

he takes the used tissue of of hermann’s hand, ignoring the noise of disgust, and throws that and the tissue box in the general direction of the night stand.

“you good now?” newt asks.

“i am fine, newton,” hermann says. “go to sleep.”

“right, right, because if roles were reversed you’d just ignore me, sure.”

“it’s not the same,” hermann mutters rebelliously, which is inopportune, because it makes newt’s heart do something funny, and newt’s trying to be annoyed right now.

“i don’t think it is,” newt says, stalwart. “i hate to break it to you, pal, but this whole situation we’re dealing with? traumatizing for both of us.”

hermann doesn’t say anything. newt sighs.

“dude, i cried in the cafeteria yesterday because i hadn’t had ice cream in so long. was i happy about it? no. but it’s just what’s happening now, okay? you don’t have to be embarrassed or hide that you have feelings about something super fucked up. even if i had any room to judge you for it, i wouldn’t.”

hermann shifts in the dark, and newt knows, just knows, that he’s doing that thing where he moves just a little closer so that newt will take a hint and initiate first contact. newt uncurls and rearranges himself so that when he tugs on hermann’s sleeve again, they fit together nicely, hermann’s head on his shoulder. it’s not quite cuddling; not yet.

“i might tease you a little though,” newt continues, curling an arm around hermann’s shoulder. “that’s different from judging.”

“of course it is,” hermann says, dry, sounding almost back to normal, if still a little congested. 

“come on,” newt says, “you can tease me too. crying over ice cream in public is ridiculous.”

hermann places his hand on newt’s chest, but curled up into a loose fist, touching but not touching.

“given the circumstances, i’m not sure that it is,” hermann says quietly.

newt sighs and gives into the urge to press his face into hermann’s hair for just a second.

“buddy,” he says, “please just wake me up next time. okay?”

hermann squishes his nose against newt’s collarbone, and newt’s heart stops briefly.

“yes, alright,” hermann says, and in victory, newt lets himself curl the rest of the way around hermann in a hug.

he plans to pull back quickly, but hermann worms his arms around newt’s middle. newt is paralyzed with shock, and hermann does not let him go, and they fall asleep that way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: werewolves

“honestly, dr. geiszler, i don’t know why you think i would go along with this when it’s obvious that you’re only interested in me for my - because i’m - because of my condition.”

hermann crosses his arm and actually spins his rolling chair to the side so he’s no longer facing newt.

“what!?” newt yells, throwing out his arms. he leans on the front of hermann’s desk, leans as far over as he can get without really encroaching on hermann’s space. “dude, i’m a biologist and i’ve known you for a million years, i’ve gathered how most of this works by now even if you won’t talk to me about it. it’s not like i think any - any of that stuff is, is present, is happening when you’re, you know - ”

“newton, please,” hermann says, covering his face with one of his hands. “must we talk about this?”

“yes,” newt replies. “look, was your condition a factor in why i first started, you know, considering this? okay, yes, i will admit to being fascinated by it in purely scientific ways but also in some, uh, less professional ways. but come on, that was ages ago, hermann. i want to get with all of you, not just the werewolfy parts of you.”

hermann removes his hand from his face to give newt a particularly disparaging look.

“i’m sure you think that was very romantic,” he says, dry.

it’s not a protest, and there’s color high on hermann’s cheeks, and no part of this conversation has actually involved hermann saying he’s not interested in newt. so newt decides to just go for it.

he walks around hermann’s desk and plops himself down on hermann’s lap, straddling the rolling chair unsteadily. hermann’s hands come up to his waist to support him.

newt fist pumps, and hermann’s hands flex like he’s going to shove him off his lap, so newt grabs onto his shoulder quickly.

“we are gonna talk about it more,” newt says.

“you’re terrible at this,” hermann mutters.

“stop pretending you want romance,” newt says. “you know i’m not gonna stop being terrible.”

hermann stares up at him, a considering look on his face.

“fine,” he says. “i suppose if you can own up to the odd things you’re attracted to so can i.”

“hey,” newt begins, not entirely sure which part of that was the insult and which part was the compliment, but then hermann leans up and kisses him, and he forgets to care.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: college professors

hermann is in the middle of going over notes for a class that his student missed when there is a knock on his office door. it’s a brief knock, though, and the door opens before he can respond, so of course it’s newton. he pokes his head into the room, as well as a paper bag that smells like takeaway from their usual place.

“oh,” newt says, spotting the student. “i’m early. i’ll wait out here.”

“early, or you forgot that i told you i had meetings tonight?” hermann asks over his glasses.

newt smiles the smile he thinks is innocent and winning and charming but mostly isn’t, and ducks back out of hermann’s office, shutting the door behind him.

“my apologies,” hermann says, but he trails off when he turns back to his student and sees her expression. “what is it?”

her mouth opens and shuts again a few times and her eyebrows are drawn close together. it’s the same face she wears when she’s solving a particularly tough equation.

“was that your husband?” she asks eventually, her voice pitched oddly.

ah. he’d forgotten she doesn’t know.

“yes,” hermann replies, resigned. “i assume you have witnessed some of our…”

“screaming matches?” she supplies. “epic rivalry? yes. i have. i - are you serious? we were all assuming you were married to, like, a nice quiet literature professor or something.”

“not everyone,” hermann replies. “many of the other students know. they don’t tell anyone else because they find it amusing for others to find out the way you just have.”

her mouth drops open again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: fingertips smudged in blue in

Hermann is not nearly as neat as he thinks he is. He might be a lot neater than Newt, sure, but he’s not totally put-together and perfect. For one, as professional as he wants his image to be, his clothing can often look messy as a result of not fitting properly, begging to be readjusted. And another thing - he always leaves half-drained, cold mugs of tea around the lab, sometimes on Newt’s side, and seems to have no idea that they’re his after the fact.

And the most persistent one - he’s always covered in whatever he was writing in. Chalk dust settled into his hair, streaking up his sleeves, absolutely coating his hands like he’s a gymnast or something. When he works with paper and pencil, it always ends up smudged all over his hands and sometimes, as a result, his face. It’s unbelievable; Newt doesn’t know how he manages it.

Newt’s startled when he walks into the lab one morning to find Hermann’s fingers stained with blue ink. He notices it as he sets down a mug on Hermann’s desk and glances over at his hands on the keyboard.

Hermann doesn’t work in pen. He needs the ability to erase and correct and perfect. He hates it when Newt takes notes or sketches in pen or marker or highlighter or whatever he can find first. Newt’s perfectly willing to start over if there’s a mistake - he just needs to get his ideas down before they evaporate. Hermann would rather carry on, edit and continue.

The most likely explanation here seems to be that Hermann was writing something personal, not professional. And that thought makes Newt’s insides clench up all funny in a way he doesn’t particularly like. He would have noticed if this was something Hermann’s done before, whatever this is, so whatever it is, it’s new. A diary or journal seems unlikely, if he hasn’t been keeping one over the last however many years, so maybe… a letter?

He really doesn’t like how he feels at the thought of Hermann handwriting a letter to someone, someone else, someone who isn’t him. He leaves the mug on Hermann’s desk without saying anything, trying not to visibly pout as he heads over to his own desk.

When he gets there, he noticing something that hadn’t been there the night before. An envelope, addressed in blue ink.

_Newton_ , it says simply.

As he looks up, Hermann takes a sip of tea, his eyes on his computer, but he looks like he’s trying very hard to focus on the screen. Newt takes in a sharp breath and picks up the envelope. He’s careful about opening it, doesn’t want to ruin it. There’s just one piece of paper inside, folded neatly, though covered in smudges.

_Newton,_

_This is the way we communicated best. I suspect the time to think before we reacted made a significant difference, though we were also under significantly less stress back then, weren’t we? Things have been especially grim of late and we’ve both been even more short-tempered than usual. I was wondering how we might alleviate some of our tension and remembered the ease of our communication in print._

_To be entirely candid, I’m not just doing this because I think it will help us professionally. The idea of writing to you again, of maybe getting along the way we did back then, is very appealing to me. I hope you feel the same way, though I will of course understand if you do not._

_Feel free to leave a letter in reply on my desk or at my quarters when you find the time. Our letters used to be primarily about work, so I won’t forbid that topic, but I don’t think it will benefit us much either to continue all the same conversations we have in person in our letters. And yet I am struggling to figure out what else there is to say._

_My sister is getting married, did I ever mention that to you? I’ve been wondering how your little cousin is doing, though she mustn’t be very little anymore. She’s in university, now, isn’t she?_

_I suppose we still do have things we can talk about here. If you’d like._

_I won’t await your reply, don’t worry. I apologize if this makes you uncomfortable, since we don’t talk about that time in our lives. I hope I am not the only one who misses it._

_\- Hermann_

Newt realizes as he finishes reading the letter that it is shaking, that his hand holding it is shaking. He takes a very deep breath and sits down behind his computer. He wants to grab a piece of paper and the first writing utensil in sight and write a response: _Yes, of course I miss it. Of course I want to write to you again. I want to go back to that version of us. Is that even possible?_

But Hermann took time in crafting his. Hermann used pen. He was absolutely certain of everything he said. Newt owes it to Hermann to take the time to think; that’s the whole point of starting this up again.

Newt sets Hermann’s letter aside. He’ll wait until tonight to start his reply. This is an opportunity to correct the mistakes he’s made; maybe he’ll even use a pencil.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: “well the probability of that is 0, but you go ahead.”

newt leans back in his chair as he crumples up his piece of scrap paper. he aims for the garbage can that rests on the yellow line down the middle of the lab, shoots, and scores. he lets out a cheer and throws him arms in the air, only to hear hermann scoff moments later from his own desk.

“what?” newt says, because he’s bored, and he suspects hermann is too. “like you’re such an athlete.”

“i’m a mathematician, newton,” hermann replies in a tone of voice that’s meant to suggest he’s only giving partial attention. “half of earning a degree in maths is competitions in calculating trick shots. not that what you just did what a trick shot by any means.”

newt stares for a long minute, not sure if hermann is messing with him.

“prove it,” he says, and before the second word is even out of his mouth, hermann balls of a piece of paper and throws it into the garbage can without looking.

newt’s mouth drops open, but he closes it again quickly before hermann can see, not that hermann has looked in his direction since this conversation began.

“i’m not going to play HORSE with you,” hermann says, and there’s amusement in his tone now, so newt crumples up two more pieces of paper to add a little weight and control, and then chucks them across the lab.

they hit hermann on the shoulder, which is pretty satisfying even though he was aiming for his head. hermann sighs and puts down his pencil and finally looks up at newt.

“what will convince you that i’m telling you the truth and to let me go back to work?” he asks. “non-dominant hand? eyes closed? from the top of the ladder?”

“yes,” newt says, and hermann’s eyebrows rise. “i know you didn’t mean all of those combined but yes.”

hermann rolls his eyes, but he stands up and grabs his cane and some paper. newt’s pretty sure there’s some kind of satisfaction in his expression, though, because really newt is goading him into showing off, isn’t he.

“what happens if you miss?” newt asks. “what do i get?”

“you get to annoy me without complaint for the next hour,” hermann says as he climbs his ladder. “but i’m going to make it and you’re going to leave me alone.”

newt scoffs loudly.

“the probability of you making this shot is zero, but you go ahead,” he says, because he wants to see hermann seethe.

“taunting me with inaccurate terminology and hyperbole isn’t going to throw me off,” hermann says, though newt can tell his jaw is clenched.

“hyperbole?” newt asks as hermann takes aim, closing his eyes. “isn’t that that one type of graph?”

“shut up,” hermann says calmly, and then he throws the balled up paper, and then his eyes fly open as newt kicks the garbage can to the side so that the paper doesn’t land in it.

“you didn’t establish any parameters,” newt says, shrugging and grinning.

hermann doesn’t say anything. he climbs down off of the ladder. he walks over to his desk. he crumples up a piece of paper and he throws it at newt’s face, and this time he doesn’t miss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: “how did you fail a survey?”

amara is waiting outside of newt’s office when he comes stomping into the hallway. it’s not a surprise; he tends to make dramatic entrances.

“oh, hey,” he says when he sees her, his stormy expression clearing a bit. “did i know we were meeting?”

“no,” she says, though he was supposed to know, but she’s used to that. “i have a few questions about the project. what are you so mad about?”

newt unlocks his office and throws his bag on the floor and gestures for amara to come inside.

“you know that research analysis class i’m auditing?”

“yes,” amara says slowly, “you weirdo. you have like 15 phds. you don’t need to take a research analysis class and everyone knows it.”

“okay well,” newt says loudly, ignoring her, “the assignment today was to take a survey because we’re gonna be making one next class and i failed.”

“you failed?” amara repeats. “you failed at taking a survey? does dr. gottlieb really hate you that much?”

newt pulls a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to her across the desk as they sit down.

“he gives out his surveys on paper still?” amara mutters to herself as she unfolds it. “wait, what the hell is this?”

“that’s my survey,” newt says.

the whole thing is filled out in red pen, which, according to what amara has heard, would probably have been enough on its own for dr. gottlieb to fail someone, but it’s also covered in little hearts, and also newt’s phone number. all the questions are answered properly, though there’s a good deal of extra, irrelevant information provided, like the type of date newt would like to take dr. gottlieb on.

“oh, i wonder why you failed,” amara says loudly, throwing the piece of paper back at newt.

suddenly, there’s a knock on newt’s office door.

“come in,” newt calls, and when the door opens, there’s a man standing there who amara is pretty sure, based on distant sightings, is dr. gottlieb. 

newt goes pale.

“i’ll wait outside,” amara says all in a rush, leaping out of her chair and scooting past him, shutting the door behind herself.

she can hear talking, but not the words being said, and then she can hear shouting, though it’s still muffled, and then it gets very quiet, and then something is knocked over. she wonders if she should leave.

after another thirty seconds or so, the door opens.

“here,” newt says, his face and his mouth both bright red as he sticks amara’s backpack through a crack in the door. “email me your questions and if we can’t work it out that way i’ll give you an extension.”

“cool,” amara says. “but only if you email me details.”

“no,” newt says. “maybe.”

then he shuts and locks his office door.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "stop making empty promises!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is at LEAST pg-13 if not mature for unsexy sexy talk

“come on,” newt whines, stepping over the line into hermann’s side of the lab.

it’s late, really early at this point, and newt’s eyes had given up their ability to focus a while ago now, but hermann is still at one of his computers, typing away.

“we both need to get some rest,” newt says, leaning over to wrap his arms around hermann’s shoulders. “it’s not gonna help anyone if you conk out in the middle of the day tomorrow.”

“i’m almost finished,” hermann replies distantly.

“oh, sure,” newt says. “you’ve been saying that for four hours. you also told me earlier today that you were gonna rock my world tonight, so maybe you should stop making empty promises, babe.”

“i said no such thing,” hermann says, irritation causing him to focus more on newt. “i would never phrase it in such a way.”

“how would you phrase it?” newt asks, kissing the side of hermann’s head.

“you know how i would phrase it,” hermann grumbles, but he saves the document he’s working in and goes to shut down the computer.

“i do,” newt agrees happily, and then he affects his hermann impression to ask, “my good man, would you like to retire to one of our quarters to make love?”

“sod off,” hermann says, shoving newt a bit roughly off of him so he can stand. “like you’re even awake enough for that right now.”

“yeah, okay,” newt says, getting back into hermann’s space as soon as he can. “how about sleepy hand stuff before we pass out?”

hermann scrunches his whole face up and mouths _hand stuff_ , but he slides his arm around newt as he turns to leave the lab, so newt’s pretty sure it’s a promise that’ll be fulfilled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "i'm not playing truth or dare."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah okay this one is also rated mature for unsexy sexy talk :/

“i’m not playing truth or dare,” hermann scoffs, taking another sip of his beer and leaning more heavily against newt’s side than he intends to, probably.

they’re up on one of the shatterdome observation decks. the party itself had been bigger, not because of the occasion but because there were drinks and music, and it had wound down to the people newt actually considered his friends.

he thinks about telling hermann he has to play truth or dare, because it’s newt’s birthday and that’s what newt wants, but at the end of the day he doesn’t want to demand or dare hermann into anything. he doesn’t want the rules of a game to force him to tell the truth, either.

“what about never have i ever?” newt asks.

hermann frowns thoughtfully and then, miracle of miracles, he nods.

“okay, okay,” tendo slurs. “never have i ever… made out with a cis dude.”

“jumping right to it, huh?” newt asks as mako and hermann take sips of their drinks.

“what else is this game for?” tendo replies with a wink. “you’re up, mako.”

“never have i ever…” mako sticks her tongue out and scrunches up her face as she thinks. “had surgery. can i use that? am i mean?”

newt takes a sip of his drink, as do tendo and hermann, and he pats mako on the arm.

“stop exploiting me,” newt says. “no, i’m just kidding. never have i ever had a dick. wait, shit, no one’s done that one.”

“debatable,” tendo says. “you don’t know what words i use. or what i have in my bedside drawer.”

“oh,” mako says, “then maybe i should drink too.”

“i changed my mind,” hermann says. “i don’t want to play this game either.”

he groans and leans his forehead against newt’s shoulder. newt feels his eyes go wide and for a moment he panics, but the two people who can see him already know how fucked he is. _help_ , he mouths over hermann’s head, and mako laughs out loud at him.


End file.
